Lore - Skorne
The Skorne race is unique among the major races of Immoren in that they have no gods. The Skorne know that the only thing waiting for them after death is eternal torment in the void. The only salvation from this fate is to become an Exalted, which is a state of immortality reserved only for the most worthy of the warrior caste. Thus their entire culture is built around martial discipline, conquest, suffering and pain. If the afterlife is nothing but torment, why should this life be any different? Torture is an art form for the Skorne and compassion is non-existent.
Far to the east, beyond the great canyon known as the Abyss dwells the warrior people of the Skorne Empire. The most important thing to realize about the Skorne is this; they know exactly what awaits them after death. Ever since the legendary Voksune discovered the secrets of looking beyond death, the Skorne have known that the realm beyond contains nothing but madness and pain. Their worldview is fundamentally based on the idea that death is ultimately a form of failure. The Skorne are determined to cheat death by whatever means they can -- either metaphorically, by having their exploits enter Skorne legend, or literally, by earning the right to have their spiritual essence locked into one of the Sacral Stones in which the Skorne keep the souls of their ancestors. It has also given them a fascination with pain and anatomy, and numerous castes have arisen in Skorne society dedicated to the study of these things. From these studies arose the arts of Mortitheurgy, a necromantic form of blood magic which draws of the energy of the Void beyond death, and Beast Handling, the skills of breeding beasts fit for use as weapons of war. The Skorne civilisation arose under the dominance of the empire of a race called the Lyoss. Skorne history tells us little about the Lyoss, other than the fact that they were a religious people, something the Skorne see as predicting their downfall. When a great cataclysm stretched across western Immoren, the Skorne easily outlasted the Lyoss, and changed from a nomadic lifestyle to a race with an empire of their own. The loosely-affiliated archdominars of the great houses of the Skorne empire happily made war amongst themselves for nearly 250 generations, until the coming of Vinter Raelthorne, the ousted King of Cygnar. Vinter was the first human the Skorne had ever seen. He had crossed the desert and found his way past the Abyss. As they had a fierce respect for his martial prowess, he gained a place among them, and conquered a continuously larger army of Skorne warriors. As such he was able to slaughter his way through the Skorne ranks and establish himself as their Conqueror after his army besieged and secured the great city of Halaak. This ended what the Skorne now refers to as the First Unification War. Vinter was hailed as a Skorne reborn in human flesh, creates the new title the of Supreme Archdominar and told the Skorne that he would lead them back into human lands, granting them a vast new territory for their new empire.
With the aid of Saxon Orrik, the Skorne built bridges across the Abyss dividing Eastern and Western Immoren, and Vinter led an army across them. His campaign failed to return, and the Skorne elders assumed that he had died and so fell back on their old ways. However, Vinter returned once again and assisted by the archdomina Makeda of house Balaash he killed those who had usurped in his abscence. He had realised that his previous campaign was too small and ill-equipped to make a serious dent in the Iron Kingdoms, and so he supervised the militarisation of the entire Skorne nation. They built even mighter engines of war and marched across the Abyss once again, slaying their way through human and trollkin armies alike. However, it was not long after the second invasion that Vinter revealed his betrayal; he had never intended the Skorne to overtake the human lands. Rather, his consolidation of their armies was in the hope that he could retake the throne of Cygnar, and drive the Skorne out of the human nations to consolidate his rule. Fearing the power of the army he had created, Vinter ordered a futile attack on Fort Falk, which ended in a massive rout of his skorne soldiers. Archdomina Makeda learned of Vinter's treachery, and took control of the army, becoming the new Supreme Archdomina. Vinter has fled, and the Skorne are ready to subjugate all of humanity under their rule.
See Also
Gameplay articles
Lore articles
- Skorne description on Privateer Press' website.
- Lore - Skorne characters
- Lore - Bloodstone Marches
- Lore - Skorne Empire
- Lore - Mortitheurgy
- Lore - Soul Vessels